Altuve’s walkoff homer lifts Astros over Boston 5

I’m a Boston Red Sock [sic] right now.

“We had a tough time keeping guys in the ballpark”, manager John Farrell told reporters after the game, as aired on “Red Sox Extra Innings LIVE”.

Alexi Ogando and Junichi Tazawa combined to allow three runs on five hits in the seventh inning alone, coughing up a 2-1 lead in the process, and Astros second baseman Jose Altuve broke a 4-4 tie in the ninth with a walk-off homer off Craig Breslow.

“This is a dead-red fastball-hitting team”, Farrell said of the Astros, who lead the majors in home runs this season.

The Red Sox mounted another rally just an inning later, creating some activity with two outs in the second when Mike Napoli took a hanging slider deep to left field for a solo shot.

With one week until the trade deadline, the Red Sox have more problems than solutions.

From that point forward, each starting pitcher settled down for the most part. What happened in between the first and the last pitch, Thursday night, was a roller coaster of a game. The 32-year-old allowed two or fewer earned runs in three of his six starts since coming off the disabled list on June 13 but was knocked around for 20 runs over 15 2/3 frames in the other three.

Houston tied it in the bottom of the inning on the homer by Gonzalez, which landed in the Crawford Boxes in left field to give him a career-high seven this season. Altuve easily scored on the play, giving the Astros their first lead of the game, but Gonzalez was thrown out attempting a triple. Astros designated hitter Evan Gattis chipped in with a single that scored Carlos Correa for a 4-2 lead. Altuve singled and stole second base before scoring on a double by Gonzalez. He struck out two in his 89-pitch outing. However, Tucker curiously misplayed the ball as it flew over his head for a game-tying double. The Red Sox will start RHP Rick Porcello, RHP Steven Wright and LHP Eduardo Rodriguez in that order at home against Detroit this weekend….

The Red Sox lost again. The Red Sox closer has not pitched since allowing Trout’s walk-off homer last Friday.

Astros right-hander Lance McCullers, making his first start since July 12, labored with his command from the start, surrendering two doubles in the top of the first to immediately fall behind 1-0.

Starting Pitching Game Ball, Wade MileyC+. He’s issued 44 in 114 1/3 innings this year, and he’s just too hittable to get away with that.

But despite one fantastic start and another solid one, the left-hander has nothing but no-decisions to show for his efforts.

Napoli has had an awfully trying season but he had a great game tonight against the Astros, going 3-4 with a homer and a pair of doubles.

Breslow got through his first inning of work perfectly fine, but it all came crashing down on him as he allowed Altuve’s walk-off blast.